Madhubani, Oct. 18: Police have begun counting the loss incurred in the flash violence that swept through the north Bihar town last week, destroying three police station and government property.

Superintendent of police Ranjit Kumar Mishra has formed a seven-member team to assess the loss incurred by the police last week. The team comprises two sub-divisional police officers, Amit Sharan of Jhanjharpur and Rajesh Singh Prabhakar of Benipatti. Mishra said a legal expert could also be included in the team to guide the officers as documents, including station diaries, at four police stations were destroyed by the mob.

On October 12 and 13, a mob set fire to three police stations — Town, Basopatti, Khajauli — in the district, completely destroying them. Jainagar police station, outside the district headquarters, was partially destroyed in another fire on October 13.

In the absence of documents, the police are finding it difficult to submit diaries to the district court or even give a list of persons against whom FIRs have been lodged. “We hope to recreate these files from papers we have already submitted in court. Then there will be some documents, which will be available at the SP’s office. Apart from that, the district police send monthly reports to police headquarters. We will be able to recover some data from the monthly reports sent to the police headquarters,” said a police officer in the district.

He said the process would be time-consuming and difficult. Loss of files in mob violence would also hamper police investigation and perusal of cases in court, he added.

Members of Chhatra Sangharsh Morcha led by Ashok Yadav alias Santosh Yadav had carried out a procession on October 12 in support of 17-year-old Prashant Jha’s family who claimed a beheaded body to be that of the youth’s.